Technical Field.
The present invention relates to a vehicle latch arrangement. More specifically, the present invention relates to a latch element able to cooperate with a gear wheel that is rotatable in a gear box, so that when the latch element is inserted between two teeth of the gear wheel, the vehicle is prevented from moving.
Background Information.
Latch arrangements of the above type are used to prevent a vehicle from moving when a vehicle is parked. In vehicles having automatic gear boxes, a latch arrangement is activated when the gear lever is shifted into the park position, e.g., the latched position. The latch arrangement includes a latch element which engages with a gear wheel in the gear box when the gear lever is shifted into the park position and disengages with the gear wheel when the gear lever is shifted out of the park position. The gear wheel is coupled to the drive shaft of the vehicle and, in the latched position, the gear wheel and thus the drive shaft are prevented from rotating. To ensure that the driver does not forget to move the gear lever to the park position when the driver wishes to leave the vehicle, a wire is coupled from the gear lever to a latch on the ignition lock, with the latch preventing the ignition key from being removed from the ignition lock while the gear lever is not in the park position. Thus, the driver has to first move the gear lever to the park position before the ignition key can be taken out of the ignition lock.
If the connection between the gear lever and the gear box is interrupted, the latch arrangement is not activated when the gear lever is moved to the park position, thus the vehicle is able to move despite the fact that the gear lever is in the park position. In particular if the connection between the gear lever and the gear box is electrical or hydraulic, it is difficult for the driver to tell whether this connection is interrupted. It is also difficult to tell whether the connection between the gear lever and the gear box is interrupted while driving for vehicles having an automatic gear box.
The object of the present invention is to make available a latch arrangement for a vehicle that prevents the vehicle from moving if a fault occurs in the connection between the gear lever and the gear box. This is accomplished by of a latch arrangement similar to the type described above, but wherein the gear box includes a control unit connectable to a gear lever. The control unit is able to control the gear box based on the set position of the gear lever. The control unit is further able to guide the latch element to the position inserted between the teeth if the connection between the control unit and the gear lever is interrupted.
Such a latch arrangement ensures that a parked vehicle does not start moving, regardless whether the connection between the gear lever and the control unit is interrupted. When the driver has stopped or parked the vehicle, the latch element engages between the teeth of the gear wheel. When the control unit detects an interrupted connection between the gear lever and the control unit, the latch element engages between the teeth of the gear wheel the next time the vehicle is stopped. In doing so, the latch arrangement of the present invention thereby eliminates the risk of the vehicle moving when it is parked. At the same time, the vehicle cannot be driven if the connection between the gear lever and the control unit is interrupted.